MICHAEL Rutter was left scratching his head again after enduring another frustrating weekend at the British Superbike season finale at Brands Hatch.

The one positive for Rutter was a return to the points for the first time in three rounds, though his return of 13th, 18th and 15th was a disappointing way to finish what has been a forgettable season.

Rutter only finished better than tenth on two occasions in 2012, his podium in the wet at Brands at round one in April proving to be a false dawn.

This time around at the Kent circuit he was let down by his machinery and with technical gremlins from Assen and Silverstone still not rectified, Rutter admits he is glad to see the back of the season.

He said: “It was another disappointing weekend and, to be honest, it sums up where we’ve been for a while.

“We struggled really from the word go, we don’t know what went wrong with the bike it just kept going slower and slower in race two and kept missing a few gears.

“It was a case of changing things again and you don’t want to be doing that for the final round of the season.

“I have wanted to be racing with the guys at the front for most of the season but it hasn’t really happened since the start of the year, we’ve just been stagnant and just fighting for scraps.

“It was a real struggle at Brands because we weren’t making improvements, we were playing catch up for both races and you can’t spend an entire weekend doing that.”

While his 2012 BSB season may not have gone to plan, Rutter’s reputation is strong as ever, his status as a world-class road racer built on the back of 13 North West 200 victories and nearly two decades of racing at the Isle of Man TT.

Though Rutter admits he does not know which machinery he will be riding in BSB next season, he is adamant he is as motivated as ever to continue to juggle both that and his road racing commitments.

“I’m in talks with a lot of people about different things,” said Rutter.

“It’s what I want to keep doing and my motivation hasn’t waned at all, it’s all just about finding the rides and we’ll see what happens and what can get worked out before next year.”